Tom Powers: In a flash, Avs hit high gear and leave Wild behind

DENVER -- Like the Roadrunner vs. the Coyote, the Colorado Avalanche simply went into hyperdrive when the time came. And the Wild's eyeballs popped out and rolled around on the ice.

The Wild didn't play badly before or after that second-period burst. But they just couldn't recover from that one momentum-fueled eruption of RPMs.

Beep-beep.

"That's what it is; it's all about momentum, inside one game, inside one series," said Wild captain Mikko Koivu. "They took advantage of theirs. I think we have to handle that and move on and get the momentum back going home."

Furthermore, the Wild now have a goaltending issue on their hands. Ilya Bryzgalov was yanked in the second period of the 4-2 loss. We're likely looking at a semi-rusty Darcy Kuemper for Game 3. Poor Bryzgalov held the fort for as long as he could Saturday. But things came unglued in the second when the Avs went into overdrive.

For hockey purists, at least, Game 2 was something of a treat. These Avalanche are like a well-shaken container of beer. They're bottled up and bottled up and bottled up, then the top pops off and -- whoosh! -- they're fizzing all over the place.

At one point in the second period, the Wild had them penned in their zone for almost a full minute. They were grinding along the wall, harassing their defensemen and pinching at the points. Then it was as if the lid blew off and a bunch of Avs escaped and went racing in the opposite direction. In about a second and a half, the puck was behind Bryzgalov.

"That's been very much the same in a lot of the games we've played against them this year," coach Mike Yeo said. "We're playing very well, we've got them sort of hemmed in and then there's one mistake and it goes the other way."

Just a few minutes later, on what started as a nothing play with the puck behind Colorado's net, boom, another rush materialized and they put another puck behind Bryzgalov.

Starting goalie Ilya Bryzgalov, 30, of the Minnesota Wild leaves the game and is replaced by goalie Darcy Kuemper in the second period. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

And for the second time in the game, Jared Spurgeon, who is struggling, was turned into a pretzel.

At that point, with 8:01 to play in the period, Bryzgalov was pulled, setting the stage for more goalie intrigue. Kuemper was back in goal for the first time since March 27, when some secret body part suffered a bruise or something. My guess is that he is there to stay. The Wild don't have the emotional or contractual ties with Bryzgalov that they do with Kuemper.

And Kuemper looked pretty good in the third period, too, even though the Avs were more in protect mode. So it's likely his net again.

"None of those goals were Bryz's," defenseman Ryan Suter said. "But Kemps came in and played great and that's all you can ask."

The pattern was established early. The momentum shifts were so severe that it all seemed almost bipolar. But whenever the Avalanche got it going -- look out.

"We have to take better angles," Suter said. "We'll make that adjustment."

Bryzgalov did his best to smooth out the mood swings while he was in there. He was like a tranquilizer dart whenever he could affect play. If he could reach the puck, he'd grab it and hold on. It was as if he were a human rain delay. Play would be furious and then Bryzgalov squeezed the puck and everyone took a breath in the faceoff circle.

The first 20 minutes ended with the score tied 1-1 and Bryzgalov really did some stalwart work in the final minutes of that period. But he wouldn't make it through the second.

There's still time for the Wild to get this turned around. It's not as if they were blown out in the first two games. They played pretty well behind Kuemper in the third period but just couldn't score. And, gee, have we heard that somewhere before?

"We had some great opportunities, too," Yeo said. "Their goalie (Semyon Varlamov) was big. I don't think we took advantage of some opportunities that we certainly could have.

"There's going to be momentum swings. But how quickly can you get it back? How do you get it back? How do you get back to your game? Certainly, it's more of a challenge when you're on the road. Obviously, coming back home we should get excited about that opportunity of playing in front of our fans."

Good point. But keep in mind that those fans are tired of being disappointed, too.